SlowRain reviewed 36 Yalta Boulevard by Olen Steinhauer
Review of '36 Yalta Boulevard' on Goodreads
3 stars
Brano Sev--mid-ranking officer in the security services of an unnamed Eastern European country during the Cold War--is given an opportunity to regain his position and title with a simple investigation back in his hometown: find out why a man who had recently defected to Austria has returned. What results takes Brano far from his home territory and forces him to reexamine everyone he knows.
This is Olen Steinhauer's third novel in his Yalta Boulevard Sequence. Like his previous novel, there is more detail in the plot and characters than there was in his debut. It's a testament to Steinhauer's writing ability that he can take a man like Brano Sev, who is a hardcore believer in socialism and the brutalities needed to enforce it, and still make him sympathetic and understandable. Where lesser authors would have given the Western reader a feel-good tale that appeals to our values, Steinhauer …
Brano Sev--mid-ranking officer in the security services of an unnamed Eastern European country during the Cold War--is given an opportunity to regain his position and title with a simple investigation back in his hometown: find out why a man who had recently defected to Austria has returned. What results takes Brano far from his home territory and forces him to reexamine everyone he knows.
This is Olen Steinhauer's third novel in his Yalta Boulevard Sequence. Like his previous novel, there is more detail in the plot and characters than there was in his debut. It's a testament to Steinhauer's writing ability that he can take a man like Brano Sev, who is a hardcore believer in socialism and the brutalities needed to enforce it, and still make him sympathetic and understandable. Where lesser authors would have given the Western reader a feel-good tale that appeals to our values, Steinhauer keeps Brano Sev honest and true to his ideals.
The settings are all handled deftly. Whether it is Brano's hometown, the European countryside, Vienna, etc., we have a clear sense of time and place. The plot, too, is sure to entertain fans of the most complex of thrillers.
And, yet, that's where I think it falters. There is just too much plot. Brano is a very interesting character, but we still don't get to know much about him--we only get a taste. He seems as knowable now, as the protagonist of his own novel, as he did when he was just a minor character in the previous ones. I wanted more Brano Sev. I wanted to know more of what he was discovering and struggling with. I wanted more narrative. What this novel delivers is a lot of little events. It's full of twists, coincidences, contrivances, and then more twists--in case we didn't have our fill already. With all the potential for weighty matters to be examined, it comes across as a rather light-weight novel--albeit, with a complicated plot.
Is this novel powerful enough to cause people to reexamine or reinforce their own beliefs? I doubt it. Does it expose anything or educate the reader? Not really. Is it entertaining and enjoyable. For some, yes. I just found it mildly so. Not as well-written as anything John le Carré or Graham Greene has ever done, but about on par with Martin Cruz Smith, and a bit more complicated than an Alan Furst novel. Still, pretty good company for Steinhauer.
